November

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2 November 1934			Seven-time motorcycle World Champion and Formula 1 World Champion for Ferrari in 1964 was known as much for his driving as his mechanical skills. He drove his best on the toughest circuits especially at the Nurburgring. A contemporary of Hill, Gurney and Clark any one who could win on a given day. He started his Formula 1 career in a Lotus but his greatest success came with Ferrari where he was called "big John" by the tifosi. Political intrigue concerning the desire of some members of the team favoring an Italian driver caused him to leave to the detriment of the Englishman as well as the Italians. He later started his own team but lack of proper funds ended that effort.
18 November 1892			On this date the greatest driver of all time, Tazio Nuvolari, was born. His good luck charm, and he seemed to have that in abundance was a small silver tortoise given to him by the poet Gabriel d'Annunzio. "To Tazio Nuvolari of good Mantuan blood, who true to his race has joined courage with poetry, the most desperate risk to the most obedient mechanical power, and lastly life unto death on the path to victory"
			"He talked to his cars," René Dreyfus remembers, "and they answered! It was incredible. He would jump from side to side, put his whole body into the effort. It seemed to me sometimes that he was himself physically lifting the car - over a curb, for example, to take a corner faster. We'd ask ourselves often, how he can drive that way? That's not right. But then he'd win ..."
			"Whenever I think of him today, I feel myself smiling. He was so full of life, almost bursting. We were astounded by him as a driver and loved him as a man." René Dreyfus
20 November 1983			Ayrton Senna was the 1983 British F3 champion with Hong Kong's Theodore Racing but frustratingly he had not secured a full-time F1 drive by a top tier team. Not being picked up by either Williams, Brabham or McLaren galled the young Brazilian. He would show them what they had missed with a strong showing at the Macau GP in November. But this race would not be a cakewalk all the best racers from the various national series would be there also wishing to make a name for themselves. The entry list for 1983 was one of the strongest ever, it being the first year that F3 cars would compete. This event held on the Guia street circuit, would provide a glimpse of the Formula One stars of the future. The competitors included Roberto Guerrero (who already had two seasons in F-1), Martin Brundle, and Gerhard Berger. But on race day, Senna was unstoppable. No one was anywhere near him. He won the first leg by more than 5 seconds and the second leg by another 6 seconds.